


Still Hurts

by Python07



Series: Kingsman Meets Craiglang [8]
Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015), Still Game (TV)
Genre: Crack, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 10:03:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5371220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Python07/pseuds/Python07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack completes his mission and has to break the bad news to Isa.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Still Hurts

Jack had to stop halfway up the stairs. He leaned forward on the railing, careful of the puppy he was holding, and set the bag of puppy chow on the floor. It took him a moment to catch his breath. “Oh, the length of these stairs.”

“You all right, Da?” Merlin asked.

Jack tried to take a deep breath and coughed a little. “Just need a minute.”

“You sure?” Merlin prodded in concern.

Jack found a camera in the corner to roll his eyes at. “Aye.”

“Really?”

Jack sighed in exasperation. “Really. Stop worrying.”

Merlin’s voice held a teasing edge. “Look at the state of ye, cannae make it up four flights of stairs without puffing out.”

Jack straightened up and flipped off the camera. “I hope ye remember this when ye get to be my age.”

Merlin laughed warmly. “Ye know I’m only teasin’ ye, Da. I hope I can get along as well as you and Victor when I hit seventy.”

Jack smiled ruefully. “Enjoy it, son, because one day you’ll wake up and realize you cannae do half the things that you used to do. It’s a rude awakening, it is.”

Before Merlin could reply, the puppy shifted in the crook of Jack’s arm. He made a small contented sound. He nuzzled the side of Jack’s neck.

“A friend for life,” Merlin commented in amusement.

Jack stroked the puppy’s ears. “It’s all right, little one.”

“I hate to interrupt, but you’d best get going.”

Jack grabbed the bag and started climbing again. Neither of them spoke again until he got to the door of his floor. “Oh, Alec, have you checked in on Victor’s John yet?”

Merlin grunted. “No. I didnae think about it.”

Merlin’s tone barely changed inflection but Jack caught it. Jack looked up at the camera again. “I thought you learned your lesson not to lie to me.”

“I’m sorry if he’s not high on my list of priorities,” Merlin answered sourly. “The way he treats his own Da.”

“I know he can be an unfeeling bastard,” Jack agreed. “But do it for Victor’s peace of mind.”

Merlin sighed heavily. “Okay. For Victor. I’ll do it today and get back with ye.”

Jack could picture Merlin pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. He smiled at the camera. “Good lad.”

“John’s still a prick,” Merlin stated manner-of-factly.

“Aye, he’s a prick.” Jack agreed in the same tone. He blew out a long breath. “Well, that’s my mission done then. I’ll have my glasses in my pocket. Now, unlock the door.”

“Well done, Gawain,” Merlin said proudly before the door lock clicked.

Jack chuckled as he slipped his glasses off and put them in his pocket. He stepped onto his own landing and the door locked again behind him. He knocked a couple times on Victor’s door.

Victor answered a few seconds later. He looked Jack up and down, from the puppy’s head sticking out of Jack’s cardigan down to the bag of food in Jack’s hand. He smirked. “Dr. Doolittle, I was expecting my friend Jack.”

“HaHa.” Jack pushed the bag of food into Victor’s chest.

Victor took it and held it in the crook of his good arm. He grinned. “You’ve always been one to take in strays.”

Jack brushed past Victor. “I couldnae leave the poor wee thing.”

Victor closed the door and trailed a step behind Jack. He patted Jack’s shoulder. “You’re getting soft in your old age.”

Jack mock glared over his shoulder. “Shut up. You’re two years older than I am.”

Victor laughed quietly. “What are you calling him?”

Jack stopped just before he got to the main room. He half turned and lowered his voice so only Victor could hear. “Where’s Isa?”

Victor matched Jack’s tone. “I went with her to her flat for a change of clothes. She’s in the other room changing.”

“Good.” Jack still looked to be sure that they were alone before he turned his attention back to Victor. He wrinkled his nose in distaste. “I found bowls with the name Chester on them.”

Victor shuddered. “Oh, no. We cannae let a sweet, innocent puppy share a name with that prick.”

“Aye,” Jack agreed solemnly. 

Victor scratched the puppy behind the ears. “So, what are ye thinking?”

Jack looked down at the puppy, who licked his nose. “I was thinking of calling him Chance.”

Victor grinned. “After John Wayne in Rio Bravo. Very nice.” He scratched behind the puppy’s ears again. “What do ye think, Chance?”

Chance turned his head to nuzzle Victor’s hand. Jack chuckled. “I think he approves. Chance it is then.”

Isa suddenly rushed up to them. If she saw Chance, she didn’t register it. “Did you find Sadie?” she asked anxiously.

Jack swallowed. “Aye.”

Isa wrung her hands. “Well?”

Jack glanced at Victor and barely tilted his head in Isa’s direction. Victor nodded. He turned his attention back to Isa while Victor put the bag down and moved to her other side. He held her gaze. “I’m sorry, Isa,” he said quietly. “She’s away.”

Isa stared at him. “What?” she asked at a loss.

“She didnae make it,” Jack said gently.

Isa continued to stare at him blankly. “What?”

Victor rested a hand on Isa’s lower back. “I’m sorry, Isa. She’s gone.”

Isa looked from Jack to Victor and then back again. She was still wringing her hands. “She cannae be. Are ye sure?”

Jack nodded sadly and reached down to take one of her hands. He gave it a squeeze. “Aye.”

“But…” Isa protested. “You’re not a doctor, Jack. Maybe she was just hurt.”

Jack squeezed her hand again. “Isa, she was cold.”

Isa’s face crumpled. Tears pooled in her eyes. “No. No. No,” she managed between hiccups.

Victor led Isa to the couch. “Sit down, hen.” He helped her to sit before he went to the sideboard.

Isa took her glasses off and squeezed her eyes shut. She started shaking. “No. It cannae be.”

Jack sat down next to her and handed her his handkerchief. He let go of Chance and the puppy just curled up in the small space between him and the couch arm. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He looked at Victor helplessly. “I’m sorry,” he murmured to her.

Isa turned into Jack started crying into Jack’s shoulder while Victor brought back a bottle of sherry. He sat on Isa’s other side. He rubbed her back.

The two men let her cry. They simply sat with her. They were close and they didn’t try to rush her.

Eventually, Isa’s tears ran dry. She pulled back and wiped her nose. She averted her eyes and stared at Jack’s chest. “I’m sorry. The world’s gone mad and here I am blubbering like a wean.”

Jack ducked his head to see her face. “There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

“Jack’s right,” Victor added. “You lost a dear friend. It’s okay to mourn.”

Isa sat up. She gestured to Jack. “Oh, I’ve gone a left a wet spot on your cardigan.”

Jack waved that off. “Nae bother.”

Jack handed Isa the bottle. “Want to have a drink to Sadie? Sorry all of my glasses are in bits.”

Isa screwed the top of the bottle with shaking fingers. She held the bottle up. “To Sadie,” she said solemnly before she took a drink. She handed the bottle back to Victor.

“To Sadie,” Victor echoed, took a drink, and then handed the bottle to Jack.

Jack followed suit. “To Sadie.” He screwed the top back on the bottle. He noticed Isa was staring with her brow furrowed. “What?”

Isa pointed at Chance. “Is that a puppy?”

Jack glanced down at Chance. “Yes it is.”

Victor laughed and teased gently, “This cannae be the first one you’ve seen, Isa.”

Isa continued staring at the puppy as if she’d never seen such a creature before. “He belongs to the McLarans down on ten. His name’s Chester.”

“No, it’s not,” Jack and Victor said together.

Isa started. “Okay. Okay,” she said hurriedly.

Jack stroked Chance’s back. “The wankers abandoned him.” He pointed to himself and Victor. “He’s ours now and his name’s Chance.”

Victor nodded. “Yeah, what he said.”

Isa’s only response was to take the bottle of sherry and take the top back off for another drink.


End file.
